Archive for October, 2017

Paul Daley (author of Beersheba, mentioned in an earlier post) wrote an interesting historical account of the Beersheba charge in today’s Guardian, which includes the following observation:

The charge, coincidentally, narrowly preceded the British war cabinet’s proclamation of the Balfour declaration in support of a Jewish state in Palestine. Such was the alignment of these pivotal moments in Middle East – and global – history that some evangelists and Christian Zionists have claimed that the light horsemen were somehow doing “God’s work” in re-establishing a Jewish homeland, as biblically prophesied.

This has always seemed utterly fanciful to me. While some horsemen certainly knew of the places they were traversing (Nazareth, Jerusalem, Bethlehem) from the Bible, there was nothing to suggest in the hundreds of letters and diaries I’ve read that any saw themselves as actively doing God’s work.

It doesn’t surprise me that the participants would have no idea of what role they may have been playing in God’s purposes and their ignorance of it can’t be offered as evidence of the claim’s lack of validity. Man’s knowledge and complicity aren’t determining factors of truth.

Mankind increasingly sees history in political and cultural terms, driven only by man’s decisions and actions, that the future is in our own hands, governed by our own choices. Any thought of God or any Divine intentions are mostly ignored or ridiculed.

Even many who acknowledge God’s reality tend to sideline Him, making God more of a spectator than someone with an active interest in His creation. They overlook the possibility that he may actual have a very defined purpose in mind for this world and its inhabitants, and that man’s actions will not and can not change that ultimate purpose. Instead, God is more than capable of using any of mankind’s actions (including the evils of war) to move towards His purposes being realised.

As I wrote elsewhere:.

God did not cause or ordain those acts, but He was more than able to USE those acts to further His purposes. He is more than willing to give mankind over to the consequences of our own choices, and will even give us a helping hand in achieving or obtaining what we’ve chosen in place of Him. (refer Romans 1:24-32 and 2 Thess 2:11-12)

What mankind meant for evil, God could turn around for His good, to move a few steps towards the fulfilment of His eternal plans.

For my New Zealander friends, the NZ part of the ANZACs can not be forgotten. They played a pivotal role in making the Light Horse charge possible, wiping out the machine guns that could have cut the charging horses and men apart before they reached their destination.

On 31st October 1917, the Australian Light Horse played a significant role in the capture of Beersheba from Turkish Ottoman control. Paul Daley looks at a variety of views of the Beersheba battle and the Light Horse charge in his book Beersheba. The book’s subtitle “A journey through Australia’s forgotten war”, reflects the general national ignorance of this part of Australian military history.

The final assault leading to the capture of the small town and its wells was an unorthodox horseback charge across open ground towards the Turkish defensive trenches. A charge of that type was not the usual Light Horse tactic. They generally acted as horse born infantry, riding to a battleground, where they dismounted, leaving their horses in the care of a designated handler, and then acted as infantry on foot.

In the charge at Beersheba they remained mounted, and relied on their horses to get them…

31 October 2017 is the centenary of the charge of the Australian Light Horse at Beersheba. An event that seems to have been pushed aside in historical memory and yet it could be one of the most important military victories in WWI.
The defeat of the Ottoman troops in Beersheba set in motion events that led to the freeing of Palestine from centuries of Ottoman (Islamic) control and paved the path for events a little over three decades later: the re-establishment of Israel in the land promised by God.

I have a long weekend coming up – three days away from work, but nothing special planned.

As long as the weather remains fine we’ll probably spend a lot of time in the garden. That’s what we’ve done for the last two or three weekends.

Spring weather has finally made gardening pleasant again. Any work done makes a noticeable difference (for example, the lawn LOOKS mowed) and we again have an abundance of flowers, transforming the garden into a place we want to be.

We also know that it won’t last, so we need to make the most of it while we can. As soon as the summer heat arrives, tender plants will be sun-scorched, roses petals will dry out almost as soon as the blooms open, and we’ll never seem to be able to get enough water to the plants before it evaporates.

For a few weeks now we’ve been harvesting a good handful of asparagus every day. Sadly that crop seems to be coming to an end. It’s the only edible we’ve been able to make use of for quite a while. I forgot to plant out the winter veg in time, and I need to be sure that we’ve seen the last of the overnight frosts before I can transplant my tomato plants from pots into the garden. I’ve found that tomato plants are extremely susceptible to cold temperatures whether there’s frost or not.

I have taken the chance with zucchini, squash and pumpkins. While they are also very frost tender, potential damage can be minimised, with only a leaf or two damaged, if given a little protection when the potential of frost is forecast. Also, only half of my seedlings have been planted into garden beds with half being held back in pots, under cover, as insurance.

Last week Gloria netted the strawberry patch to protect anticipated fruit from the destructive blackbirds. It seems like she did it just in time, with the first berries showing the a hint of developing ripeness this morning.